Running on Microbes

User rating: 4.7 / 5 after 23 vote(s)

USC Colleges Ken Nealson leads a multidisciplinary team of biologists chemists earth scientists and engineers developing a microbial fuel cell capable of powering small devices that might include tiny surveillance planes and environmental sensors. He ...
USC College’s Ken Nealson leads a multidisciplinary team of biologists, chemists, earth scientists and engineers developing a microbial fuel cell capable of powering small devices that might include tiny surveillance planes and environmental sensors. Here Nealson examines a prototype of the fuel cell in his lab. Photo credit: Phil Channing

What’s cleaner than coal, as renewable as solar energy and as ingenious as any of the cutting-edge alternative energy sources now being proposed for cars? The answer is microbe power, and if a USC team’s efforts to harness its electrical punch succeed, it may one day find uses in applications both big and small.


Full story »
All News summaries from General Science news
All News summaries for December 20, 2006

Study explores plausibility of bulbs and tubers in the diet of early human ancestors

7 hours ago | User rating: not rated yet
(PhysOrg.com) -- It was a dirty job, but somebody had to do it. Anthropologist Nathaniel J. Dominy of the University of California, Santa Cruz, has advanced the investigation of the diet of early human ancestors ...

Wealth Does Not Dictate Concern for the Environment

7 hours ago | User rating: not rated yet
It has been a long-held assumption that poor nations will not support efforts to protect the environment since their citizens are too preoccupied with meeting basic needs, such as food and housing. However, a new study in ...

Construction workers unearth mammoth bones in Minsk

8 hours ago | User rating: not rated yet
Workers building a business centre in Minsk came across the bones of two mammoths thought to be between 25,000 and 45,000 years old, an official from Belarus' Academy of Sciences told AFP on Friday.

Women's access to credit affects efficiency in rural households

8 hours ago | User rating: not rated yet
Rural strategies designed to induce economic growth often emphasize the need to improve access to capital for poor households. However, this approach implicitly assumes that family members pool all their resources and allocate ...

Colonial heritage metaphors used in US military conflicts

8 hours ago | User rating: not rated yet
The historical reference to "Indian Country" presents a complex metaphor. For many Native Americans it signifies home, family, and territory; however, for others the term can refer to colonialism and Native American land ...
Goto Archive PhysOrg Forum Goto Archive Video Goto Archive Editorials Goto Archive Free Magazines Goto Archive Newsletter

News Archive